18 replies to this topic

[Paulette]

So this is probably a classic mistake... I was feeding my ants with fruit flies, and then discovered that the flies had mites. Is this likely to be just a minor problem or a total disaster? I don't see mites in most of the tubes, but it's hard to see them, they're really tiny.

[Vendayn]

I wouldn't think any good is going to come out of that, sadly. And getting rid of mites is near impossible. Even getting predatory mites doesn't always work. I don't have any advice, but maybe someone else does.

[Paulette]

Ants groom and tend their brood, do they not have a way to defend against mites? I'm still holding out hope, perhaps to no avail. Time will tell.

[Billy]

I have read that if you put a lemon slice in the foraging arena, the ants will somehow use that to get rid of mites. 

[Crystals]

It depends on the type of mites.

Take a good look at your fruit fly culture.  Are the mites hitching rides (and harming) the fruit flies?

Or are they just roaming around at random?  If so they are likely just detritus mites and harmless.

[William. T]

Crystals is right. If they are on the flies, destroy the whole colony by freezing, so you can feed later.

Edited by William. T, September 9 2015 - 2:35 PM.

[123LordOfAnts123]

Most mites are harmless, and the parasitic ones highly specialized. You shouldn't have mite problems unless you bring in an already infected colony, boost with wild brood, or have a fresh queen with hitchhikers present. I've only ever seen grain or detritus mites in fruit fly cultures, and if there did happen to be mites on the flies I'd worry about the other fly cultures rather than the ants. As for the grain mites, they're harmless. However they can multiply exponentially if there's excess food for them such as an unkept trash pile. In large numbers they can be an annoyance to ants, especially larger species. If they're large mites, or if you have very small ants, they make a welcome treat if accepted.

Edited by 123Lord Of Ants123, September 9 2015 - 2:45 PM.

[antmaniac]

The mites can be very aggressive. in the wild, they will come in great number when there is a dead insect or ant brood unattended. I found that my ants (small size) are actively fight against them, but had to abandon their food due to the sheer number of mites. It maybe true that some parasitic ones are specialised on the species, but don't risk it with those carnivore mites. They will destroy any young colony for sure.

Edited by antmaniac, November 15 2015 - 5:43 PM.

[Huch]

My fruit flies have had mites for about 2 months. I feed them to my colonies with no issues. I saw some of the mites in a test tube where the ants were, but no problems so far.

I would not worry unless the colony begins to shrink.

[Paulette]

Followup. I got rid of the offending fruit fly colony and now I feed only frozen crickets. My queens of Formica and Lasius are doing fine, no sign of any mites on them or their brood. I had 2 Pogonomyrmex barbatus queens that died after I posted the question, and there were mites on them after death. But I don't know if the mites contributed to their death, or simply crawled onto the corpses. Those two queens seemed very discontented and roamed around all the time, so maybe they just didn't have the right kind of setup.

[Adamzam15]

I know this thread is years old, but I wanted to ask something related, so decided to ask here instead of creating a new thread.

 

I noticed my fruit fly culture has loads of little white mites moving around on the sides of the container. I cannot take a clear picture of them, but I will upload shortly what I tried to on the offchance someone recognises them.

 

I have never fed the fruit flies or any other insect live to my ants. I boil them first.

 

Now, a few questions:

 

1. They are in the same room, but far away from my colonies. Is there a danger to my colonies?

2. Should I throw the culture away or shall I try to extract any live flies, boil and freeze?

3. The fruit fly culture is next to a dubia colony I am breeding and not too far some mealworms I am breeding. i am assuming they are both now in danger. Any advice?

 

I am pretty sure the mites came when I bought it a week ago from a live food shop. I wasn't impressed with the state of the insects when they arrived. I will try elsewhere next time.

 

Another question, when I boil them, right now I boil the kettle and pour it over them, leaving it for a few seconds. It that enough or what is the correct way?

 

As some of you know, I have become a very panicky keeper, so sorry for the questions! Fortunately I have never had to deal with mites before.

Edited by Adamzam15, April 11 2022 - 1:26 PM.

[Adamzam15]

I know this thread is years old, but I wanted to ask something related, so decided to ask here instead of creating a new thread.

I noticed my fruit fly culture has loads of little white mites moving around on the sides of the container. I cannot take a clear picture of them, but I will upload shortly what I tried to on the offchance someone recognises them.

Now, a few questions:

1. They are in the same room, but far away from my colonies. Is there a danger to my colonies?
2. Should I throw the culture away or shall I try to extract any live flies, boil and freeze?
3. The fruit fly culture is next to a dubia colony I am breeding and not too far some mealworms I am breeding. i am assuming they are both now in danger. Any advice?

I am pretty sure the mites came when I bought it a week ago from a live food shop. I wasn't impressed with the state of the insects when they arrived. I will try elsewhere next time.

Another question, when I boil them, right now I boil the kettle and pour it over them, leaving it for a few seconds. It that enough or what is the correct way?

As some of you know, I have become a very panicky keeper, so sorry for the questions! Fortunately I have never had to deal with mites before.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ANTdrew]

These are grain mites that pose no real threat to your ants. They can explode in population, though, and pose a rather disgusting annoyance. I’d advise starting a new culture. You can still feed the flies to your ants, but definitely boil them in the manner you described. Three seconds is enough to kill the loathsome critters.

[Zeiss]

I know this thread is years old, but I wanted to ask something related, so decided to ask here instead of creating a new thread.

 

I noticed my fruit fly culture has loads of little white mites moving around on the sides of the container. I cannot take a clear picture of them, but I will upload shortly what I tried to on the offchance someone recognises them.

 

I have never fed the fruit flies or any other insect live to my ants. I boil them first.

 

Now, a few questions:

 

1. They are in the same room, but far away from my colonies. Is there a danger to my colonies?

2. Should I throw the culture away or shall I try to extract any live flies, boil and freeze?

3. The fruit fly culture is next to a dubia colony I am breeding and not too far some mealworms I am breeding. i am assuming they are both now in danger. Any advice?

 

I am pretty sure the mites came when I bought it a week ago from a live food shop. I wasn't impressed with the state of the insects when they arrived. I will try elsewhere next time.

 

Another question, when I boil them, right now I boil the kettle and pour it over them, leaving it for a few seconds. It that enough or what is the correct way?

 

As some of you know, I have become a very panicky keeper, so sorry for the questions! Fortunately I have never had to deal with mites before.

There will almost always be mites in fruit fly colonies that you buy.  They just don't start being noticeable until later on.  

 

I would say there's a possibility they got into your dubia colony already, just keep an eye out.  I'd say just kill the flies that are in the colony because the mites will be on them most likely.  Typically, 5 minutes of boiling will sterilize things.  I personally wipe everything down with a clorox wipe that the mites may have touched.

[Adamzam15]

These are grain mites that pose no real threat to your ants. They can explode in population, though, and pose a rather disgusting annoyance. I’d advise starting a new culture. You can still feed the flies to your ants, but definitely boil them in the manner you described. Three seconds is enough to kill the loathsome critters.

Cheers! I also surrounded the containers with the flys with diatomaceous earth. I think it future I will do that with any live feeder insects!

 

Its 10:40pm here in the UK, so first thing I will boil them and freeze in a test tube for later.

[Adamzam15]

 

I know this thread is years old, but I wanted to ask something related, so decided to ask here instead of creating a new thread.

 

I noticed my fruit fly culture has loads of little white mites moving around on the sides of the container. I cannot take a clear picture of them, but I will upload shortly what I tried to on the offchance someone recognises them.

 

I have never fed the fruit flies or any other insect live to my ants. I boil them first.

 

Now, a few questions:

 

1. They are in the same room, but far away from my colonies. Is there a danger to my colonies?

2. Should I throw the culture away or shall I try to extract any live flies, boil and freeze?

3. The fruit fly culture is next to a dubia colony I am breeding and not too far some mealworms I am breeding. i am assuming they are both now in danger. Any advice?

 

I am pretty sure the mites came when I bought it a week ago from a live food shop. I wasn't impressed with the state of the insects when they arrived. I will try elsewhere next time.

 

Another question, when I boil them, right now I boil the kettle and pour it over them, leaving it for a few seconds. It that enough or what is the correct way?

 

As some of you know, I have become a very panicky keeper, so sorry for the questions! Fortunately I have never had to deal with mites before.

There will almost always be mites in fruit fly colonies that you buy.  They just don't start being noticeable until later on.  

 

I would say there's a possibility they got into your dubia colony already, just keep an eye out.  I'd say just kill the flies that are in the colony because the mites will be on them most likely.  Typically, 5 minutes of boiling will sterilize things.  I personally wipe everything down with a clorox wipe that the mites may have touched.

 

 

Thank you for this. I actually find the fruit fly cultures really annoying to deal with, so I think after this I may stick to dubia and mealworms. 

 

When you say boil for 5 mintues, do you mean the containers, etc or the flies? For the small flies isnts 5 mins overkill?

 

As long as my ant colonies are safe, I am relieved.

[ANTdrew]

Three seconds in boiling water will kill any mite on the flies. I don’t feed anything to my colonies before dipping them in boiling water to prevent grain mites.

[Zeiss]

Thank you for this. I actually find the fruit fly cultures really annoying to deal with, so I think after this I may stick to dubia and mealworms. 

 

 

When you say boil for 5 mintues, do you mean the containers, etc or the flies? For the small flies isnts 5 mins overkill?

 

As long as my ant colonies are safe, I am relieved.

Boiling for 5 minutes should just kill everything, including the hard-to-kill eggs of the mites; however I just throw it away without doing anything special.  I don't cook anything I feed my ants because it's unnecessary in my opinion.

[United-Ants]

I would toss the culture and do a serch and wipe down the área where you found the mites

When I had grain mites the ants where dowing bad with the mites